


Forbidden Games

by House_of_the_Lion



Category: His Dark Materials (TV), His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Genre: Adultery, F/M, masriel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:15:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28818390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/House_of_the_Lion/pseuds/House_of_the_Lion
Summary: They know perfectly well that what they are doing is not right...
Relationships: Lord Asriel/Marisa Coulter, Marisa Coulter & Lord Asriel
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	Forbidden Games

**Author's Note:**

> This text was written for the 133rd Night of the FoF. The goal was to write on the theme ''Good'' in one hour maximum.

The apartment was crowded.

The living room, dining room and even the balcony were overrun with the best of London society.

Marisa hated this kind of evening, the kind where she had to spend her time clinging to Edward's arm, having eyes only for him, smiling naively, laughing at every joke and nodding every time he opened his mouth and asked her opinion.

She hated the looks of almost every man who lingered too long on her cleavage, which revealed the birth of her breasts, the naked white skin without any imperfection at the mercy of all prying eyes.

The only thing that comforted her a little from having to pass for the perfect trophy wife, so far from what she really was, was knowing that Asriel would certainly be there.

He, too, hated those cocktails, with their hypocritical smiles, but he needed it. He needed to find investors to finance his research. And Edward Coulter was one of his most willing patrons.

So the least polite thing to do was to show up when he was invited to one of his parties.

But it wasn't for Edward's sake that he came.

No, it was for Marisa.

Since he had first crossed her eyes two years earlier, it had been impossible to take her out of his mind.

It wasn't for lack of trying though.

He had immersed himself in his work so deeply that he had almost drowned in it, and yet there was nothing he could do about it.

Only one thing had invaded his head.

Or rather, only one person.

Marisa Coulter.

He had almost lost all his strength when she had come to talk to him for the first time, had nervously run her hand through his flowing brown hair, messing it up more than it already was, looking at his feet and not daring to look up at those sapphire eyes he had dreamed so much about.

Her voice was soft, melodious, almost bewitching.

It was when he felt her legs trembling that Asriel Belacqua, who had always been perfectly in control of himself, understood that he was in love.

But he could not. He had no right.

It wasn't right.

_It wasn't good._

* * *

Marisa knew perfectly well that what she had with Asriel, that attraction that forced them to get close to each other like magnets, was wrong.

It was wrong in the eyes of society.

It wasn't right in the eyes of the Church.

It was certainly not right in the eyes of the Magisterium.

But she didn't care.

Maybe it was wrong, but it was good for her.

It made her feel good.

The kisses stolen from abandoned corners, the hugs rushed into unoccupied rooms, the few seconds of respite they had before going back, dressed, combed their hair, so that no one could ever guess what had happened, all this, Marisa could not bring herself to abandon it, even if it was bad for everyone.

She felt better with Asriel than she did with anyone else.

Edward's female acquaintances and colleagues were all more boring than each other, not knowing how to do anything but smile and answer "yes" or "no", real trophy wives. Marisa didn't want to, would never allow herself to become like that.

She may have been less well-born than all these beautiful people, but she had succeeded thanks to her intelligence, she had done her own research before marrying Edward because his influence was growing, and he was gaining more and more notoriety as time went by, which would have allowed her to get closer to the King, and to be known and recognized for his work.

In fact, it was through Edward that she met Asriel.

She smiled at the thought, raising her glass of champagne to his lips.

Her husband had introduced her to her lover. If that wasn't ironic.

_Marisa, may I introduce Lord Asriel Belacqua. He is an explorer that I support financially._

She had tried to ignore the heat that had begun to consume her deep inside and that was getting stronger and stronger with every second spent in her company.

She had believed that perhaps, after long years of living together, she might be able to fall in love, or at least have affection for her husband.

But that was before.

Nothing that she could ever feel for Edward would ever match what was burning inside her when she thought of Asriel.

And that wasn't right.

She smiled when she saw Asriel coming towards her with a glass of wine in her hand, too.

She let him come, then put her hand on his arm and her lips on his neck, her fingers running through his curly hair, pulling slightly, as they were hidden from view by a wall.

They played dangerous games, forbidden games, but neither had ever feared danger.

It may not have been right, but she loved it. And so did Asriel, at least as much as she did.

* * *

When, nine months later, Marisa laid her eyes on the baby just nestled in her arms, still red and screaming from birth, she couldn't take her eyes off it.

What they had done with Asriel was wrong, and sooner or later they would pay the price.

But the little girl who kept wiggling was just wonderful.

She was so tiny, so delicate, so fragile.

Maybe deep down, in the end, Asriel was right.

It didn't matter if what they were doing was wrong. What those forbidden games had led to was simply perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Take the time to leave a little comment, it's always a pleasure :)


End file.
